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“Now or never,” Quentin said to me.
“Now.”
I ran straight at Baigujing. Whatever magical toughness had protected me from being cut to ribbons by a plate-glass window would have to do. Quentin got clever and flickered off to the side, rounding the demon to hit her in the flank.
Unfortunately for us, I got there first. My wild, untrained punch met Baigujing right in the center of her chest, but she went limp and weightless the split second before, offering no resistance. She and I tumbled together a few steps before disentangling.
Quentin had the wherewithal to change his target. He scooped up the kid and wrapped her in his scarf. Then he leapt out of the window.
“Looks like you’ve been abandoned,” Baigujing said.
I nearly smiled; Quentin had only done exactly what he should have. I just needed to stall until he got back from putting the child somewhere safe. I raised my hands like I knew how to fight, hoping that Big Joe’s “don’t mess with me” stance from the self-defense class was a good enough bluff.
This was it. I was facing off against a demon. For real this time, with no blind rage to act as a crutch. There was a clarity to every second that passed while I was guarding a life other than my own. I felt pure. Unassailable.
Not in the literal sense, though, because Baigujing advanced upon me steadily. She was either being unnecessarily wary or she was toying with me.
“We can wait until the monkey gets back,” she said. “If you’d like.”
“Sure.” I jabbed at her eyes and missed. That must only work when they aren’t expecting it.
The demon tutted. “You’ve got to put your weight behind it, or else there’s no point. I’ve taken blows from you and the monkey at full strength.”
“Here’s another.” Quentin reappeared and delivered a flying knee to the side of her head.
Baigujing’s body rumpled and pinwheeled away. She righted herself, hardly any worse for wear.
“Displace,” she intoned, making the motions for a spell.
“Oh no, you don’t.” Quentin lunged at her to interrupt it.
But he didn’t succeed. In fact, he didn’t even come close to Baigujing. He dove in the wrong direction by more than ninety degrees.
“What the hell?” Quentin was unable to believe the extent to which he’d whiffed. He flailed in the empty air and tried to lay hands on her again, but he ended up running in a new angle that was equally bonkers.
Baigujing hadn’t moved at all, from my perspective. She must have screwed with Quentin’s eyes. There was no telling what kind of illusion he was seeing at the moment.
“Can you hear me?” I asked him. “I can see her but I’m not sure if she’s real or—”
The demon crossed the distance between us in one step and backhanded me all the way into the wall.
Okay, I thought through the smear of pain that was my spine hitting the bricks. Guess she’s real.
I keeled over on my hands and knees, gasping for breath. I saw Baigujing’s bare feet stop in front of me.
She nudged me in the chin with her toe. “Your turn,” she said.
I planted myself, a sprinter in a starting block, and slugged her as hard as I could in the stomach. I could feel her flesh wrap around my fist without taking any of the punch. It was like trying to fight a plastic bag floating in the breeze.
Baigujing smiled at me. She had to use her eyes to do it. She grabbed me by the jaw and bent me backward, squeezing hard enough that I couldn’t speak.
“You’re not going to get anywhere like that,” she said. “I met the monkey for the first time while disguised as a human. He knew I was up to no good, though, and struck me with the Ruyi Jingu Bang with all his might. I survived unharmed. Do you know how rare that is, to be able to shrug off direct hits from the Monkey King? I feel like I’m not appreciated enough for that.”
I glanced over at Quentin, who was still chasing shadows.
“The funny thing is, after he struck me I left behind a body of flesh to make it look like he’d murdered an innocent girl,” Baigujing giggled. “You should have seen how Xuanzang punished him for that one! The beast that threatened Heaven, rolling in the dust, clutching his head and pleading for mercy. I laughed for weeks!”
I didn’t know how I had any nerves left to touch, but she found them. I took her by the hair with one hand. She merely grinned, figuring I was going to punch her with the other.
